The 2022 World Cup has gotten underway with an atmosphere unlike any tournament which has come before it. While this sentence would usually indicate an electric atmosphere and unrivaled enthusiasm, this time things are different: for many, the appalling human rights record of the host nation, Qatar, is the only thing on their minds…
Category Archives: The Middle East
Out of the Closet and Across the Border: LGBT+ Refugees Fleeing Afghanistan
Image by Ian Taylor on Unsplash By Brigid Rawdon Content warning: Homophobia, death penalty, sexual assault In August of 2021, the Taliban, an extremist armed militant group regained control of the nation of Afghanistan. The group had been driven out of power following the invasion by the American military in 2001. However, after American troopsContinue reading “Out of the Closet and Across the Border: LGBT+ Refugees Fleeing Afghanistan”
Some Days are for Hope
Image by E.J Wolfson on Unsplash Written by Jack McGrath Yesterday, the 25th of September 2021, the Hazara community and their friends commemorated all those who were murdered, sold into slavery, and brutalised during the 1890-1893 Hazara genocide which was perpetrated by the then emir of Afghanistan Abdur Rahman Khan. It is a genocide thatContinue reading “Some Days are for Hope”
Adieu to Afghanistan: US veterans react to Biden’s decision to withdraw troops
Image by Pixabay via Pexels Written by MacKenZie Rumage On 13 April, President Biden announced that he would pull the remaining 2,500 American troops out of Afghanistan by a date none other than the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, carried out by al-Qaeda and spearheaded by the group’s leader, Osama bin Laden. Originally, heContinue reading “Adieu to Afghanistan: US veterans react to Biden’s decision to withdraw troops”
Saudi Arabia’s G20 summit
Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky on Unsplash By Louisa Campbell Baroness Helena Kennedy of the House of Lords has called on global nations to shun the G20 summit hosted by Saudi Arabia unless jailed women’s rights activists are released. Kennedy declared that these women’s advocacy for human rights “is seen as an afront to the power structures in SaudiContinue reading “Saudi Arabia’s G20 summit”
Coronavirus in Palestine
The West Bank Barrier in Bethlehem (Image taken from user ‘Tala Sarabtah’ on Wikimedia Commons) Written by Ella Watharow The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all as countries around the world fight to adapt in these unprecedented times. But what about the things that haven’t changed? The residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories have beenContinue reading “Coronavirus in Palestine”
Colder Weather: Amidst hopes of a “new Arab Spring” should Iraq prepare for a longer winter?
By Isabelle Houghton “A life in dignity and freedom. Or no life. This is what the protests are all about”. UN Special Representative to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasscharert quoted what one Iraqi protester told her during her recent UN Security Council briefing. Protests in Baghdad in October 2019. Photo and all rights belong to Al JazeeraContinue reading “Colder Weather: Amidst hopes of a “new Arab Spring” should Iraq prepare for a longer winter?”
Egypt: A Hidden Uprising
Protesters in Cairo last week called for the removal of President el-Sisi. Getty images. Currently in their second week of protests, the scattered gatherings in Egypt call for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to step down. Though the protests this week were smaller in size and number compared to last week, the demonstrations continue to challengeContinue reading “Egypt: A Hidden Uprising”
Netanyahu’s Re-election and its Damage to Israeli-Palestinian Relations
United States President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in February 2017. On the 9th of April 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected, winning his fourth consecutive term and putting him on track to soon be the longest serving Prime Minister in the country’s history. However, Netanyahu’sContinue reading “Netanyahu’s Re-election and its Damage to Israeli-Palestinian Relations”
Exile in the Modern Age: The Case of Shamima Begum
Shamina Begum in 2015, courtesy of PA via BBC News In 2015, at the age of 15, the second-generation Bethnal Green local was radicalised and coaxed into abandoning her home to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State. Within two weeks she was married to 23-year-old Dutch convert, Yago Riedijk. Over the coming yearsContinue reading “Exile in the Modern Age: The Case of Shamima Begum”
Protocol Magazine 